The Legacy of JFK, 50 Years After the Assassination: Richard Reeves and David Axelrod

To mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian Richard Reeves joins Institute Director David Axelrod for an in-depth interview about JFK and his impact on American politics. The conversation will explore the successes and failures of the Kennedy Administration during its nearly three years in office and also will ask the question: What might have become of the Kennedy presidency-and the nation-had the assassination never happened?
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[@JMay-]

Reeve's socks don't match.

[@sportsmediaamerica]

LOL!

[@sportsmediaamerica]

He has another pair just like it at home in his top drawer.

[@shreddxx]

This guy admitted he's not a historian. This discussion is only his opinions, which I find the historians would contradict probably half of them. So after having watched the 1st 35 min.s, I've seen enough.

[@billkeon880]

Great, sober discussion. Confirms much of what I’ve changed my opinion of JFK more recently, with some new interesting info

[@ligayabarlow5077]

Buell's story never made sense. Oswald could have waited a day and picked up the rods Friday, brought them back Monday. The only mannlicher-carcanos Klein's had for sale were 36". The rifle found in the TSBD was 41" long. And the money order supposedly used to purchase the rifle was never cashed....therefore no purchase was made.

[@AMC2283]

Don’t let them distract you with the bag story. It’s like quantum mechanics, the rifle is and isn’t in there until you look and find out. And the news reports finding a Mauser all day Friday anyway.

[@aaronz7056]

How would some "conspiracy" know for sure where the rifle even was? How would it know Oswald would show up at the Paine house, unannounced, unexpected and in mid-week, all for the first time, on Nov 21? How would it know he would suddenly have a package on him at all? How would it know he wouldn't just stand out in the street to watch the parade? How would it know he would immediately flee the plaza? Etc.

[@wally1452]

I thought Reeves was a strong JFK supporter...I guess not. What irritates me quite a bit is when writers, biographers...all the "experts" too damn many people believe, half the time (more than half) are full of shit. WATCH JFK Press Conferences on KZbin, he had them every (3?) weeks and I heard him twice, in Oct. 1962 and same month 1963 tell reporters he had authorized getting 1,000 troops out before end of '63...then all other 15,000 out of Vietnam by end of 1965. It is also in a memo (I have copy) of the Congressional/Foreign Policy Records taken down day by day from Aug. 1963-Dec. 31, 1963...with JFK having been murdered by end of that Foreign Policy transcripts...and which also shows Memo 273 where LBJ reverses JFK's withdrawal and soon has 500,000 troops of mostly poor, black and minorities in his (and Nixon's) 10 year war...per the CIA/Military's orders. Look it up. Why doesn't, what I thought was a fairly honest reporter as Reeves, tell the truth?

[@lifehope4603]

Liar - Eisenhower presidency was pushing the US into the Vietnam war.

[@misterfriggingarrison6372]

they are looking over their shoulders.

[@TD-pj5ke]

JFK changed the history of the world on better,, " We do not chose to do it [ Moon programme], because it's easy but because it's hard." It is eaay to become schooled by gun lobby how to hatespeak🔚 and remain in top circling arround to repeat hate, intrusive🔚. progressive.

[@vernpascal1531]

@@misterfriggingarrison6372 -If you don't tell us JFK was pulling out of Vietnam and he was killed in an obvious conspiracy and covered up decade after decade by lies...then you are no Historian.

[@barbarabeard3904]

I'm with you on this. Someone researched this fact regarding Vietnam and he concluded that he was pulling out. It irks me that nobody mentions this. JFK was being subverted by the military and intelligence agencies. Inc, Harriman who never sent cables to Vietnam. Also e Howard hunt admitted making false cables that said JFK knew about diem bros assassination. A lot of lies to blacken his name

[@reginaldlott236]

Kennedy WAS the best

[@ritawilliams8686]

The best what? Womenizer, lier, truth twister,most selfish? Arrogant, disrespectful, political manuplatior. ?????That about covers it

[@thegeneral7043]

@@ritawilliams8686 Kennedy haters and Historians have spent the last 50+ trying to destroy him and and his character. This shouldn't define him, as LBJ was much worse than he was in womanizing.

[@jb-vb8un]

@generzod - ya fail to list any names or facts .... MIMI ALFORD, MARLENE DIETRICHT, BLAZE STARR, ANGIE DICKINSON, JUDITH CAMPBELL

[@yardrail3432]

Wow! Love the socks...such an interesting man.

[@musicpinas9935]

As I observed and carefully studied the life as well as the achievement of JFK, I was really inspired and sad about his untimely death, thinking that if he was given the chance to live longer, Then probably he could be the most greatest leader in the whole universe and the most popular, brilliant political figure in the world, he's an inspiration to all human beings!

[@nomadicgringo9312]

Great

[@paystarbuzzy]

My favorite photo of Kennedy is of when he came back from his last trip to Chicago in Spring '63. He was wearing a fedora. Rare-ish.

[@4OHz]

Well, he was in Chicago talking to gangsters...

[@jeffsilverberg5848]

Whose glass does that belong to, in between the water bottles? Is it wine? Was it left from the last interview? If not, do not drink the wine, it may have been sweetened by the CIA. LOL

[@HTub-bo2yl]

JFK was unique among former Navy officers. He believed deeply in our way of government and its fragility.

[@vernpascal1531]

Too bad Dulles, Warren, LBJ, Katzenbach and McCloy, and Admiral Burkley didn't.

[@jb-vb8un]

JFK "unique" recklessness killed US sailors which his mobster father's ill gotten money bought a cover-up

[@jb-vb8un]

unique underage teen MIMI ALFORD was given drugs & alaohol to perform favors while serial predator JFK watched

[@leemoore9933]

Guys socks don't match.

[@4OHz]

Interesting that the discussion towards discusses the idea of American Exceptionalism; the myth was created by radical conservatives at the University of Chicago

[@josetrevino9107]

This history should not be its neg not. Pos..bad has no pros

[@GregJay]

People still recite the LBJ lies

[@nomadicgringo9312]

Should not recite he lies but both lies and kills

[@jb-vb8un]

and SURPPISE SURPRISE, neither of ya have any evidence

[@Larry-vc5qv]

7 years later this has 7000 views. Some millenial farts and it has a million. Doomed.

[@paystarbuzzy]

Larry yeah too bad it's not two gay interracial vegan roommates doing the yoga challenge to the hottest Disney Musically favorites on Tiktok.

[@daveolszta6420]

It still has views and that's what matters . I'm a millennial and I found this and I will spread it

[@curbozerboomer1773]

@@paystarbuzzy Hilarious comment!...but sadly true...millenials that I know, have little sense of history, government, etc...they just love skateboarding, and their cell phones...they cannot write in cursive, and prefer texting to actually conversing with someone...really pathetic.

[@nealtauss1715]

JFK went to Dallas to heal internecine rifts that had developed between the Connally(Right-Wing) and Yarborough(Mid-Wing) factions of the Democratic Party of Texas..... Yarborough was supposed to be riding where Connally was sitting.... Kennedy made a LAST minute switch causing Yarborough to ride next to LBJ whom....Yarborough later told interviewers.... spent the entire trip to Dealey Plaza fiddling with a 'Walkie-Talkie'-style Portable Radio.... trying to connect with 'somebody'(?) through the maze of concrete buildings.... scrunched up in the jump seat in front of Kennedy.... Big John Connally may have tolerably favored his political 'antagonist' Senator Yarborough.... at least through the rifle scopes of the HitYarboroughSquad.... at ACTION speed.... Oswald was NOT featured as the Patsy.... not in the 'A Plan'.... which was MEANT to look like a military style ambush.... complete with dead Cubans (at least one).... all for the purpose of inculpating Castro (for yet further Causus Belli and resultant D-Day style invasion of 'that imprisoned island' ) BUT.... as a LAST minute CIA recon overflight (and/or other methods) found that Fidel had Theater Nukes (JFK.... having banned U-2 recon over Cuba as part of Missile Crisis Resolution.... was NOT expected to be back in the Office on Monday) AND .... as LAST minute RE-arrangements HAD to be made.... NOW Oswald.... as part of a HASTILY scrambled together Plan B..... becomes the Patsy.... MEANT to be killed THO.... at the Theater where he was instead (we may never know EXACTLY why) taken into custody.... loudly decrying his willingness to submit ("I am NOT resisting arrest") and sooo.... on to his subsequent shooting WHICH... he survived.... stimulating LBJ's phoned missive to relevant parties(?)at Parkland.... demanding Oswald's 'DEATH BED' confession.... delivering THUS.... THIS Matter... into the able offices of Citizen Journalists World Wide.

[@jeanneumana1052]

What???!

[@matabeleman]

why are they talking about the blackie guy???

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Reeves is so interesting to listen to...but man, his body language is so jerky and jumpy!...I can hardly watch him talk...maybe he has Parkinson"s here?...I am serious, he seems so ill at ease, yet is a very capable interviewee.

[@fernfreeman1729]

Each time I watch Buell I feel bad for him, he never changed his story, he can't really, but the fact of the matter is he never looked closely at the package in the back seat, only a glance at 7:30ish in the morning while getting in the car. Why would Lee say they were curtain rods if the package was only 24-26 inches long? He had to say curtain rods because the package was long, a gun long. When Lee stepped out, Buell never looked, he was busy checking his battery gage. Sadly, by maintaining this story, Buell unknowingly contributed to more stupid conspiracy theories than anyone else. Did he lie for fear of getting implicated or he just made a mistake? The truth is Buell never had a good look and should have said so and not get involved into any assumptions.

[@vernpascal1531]

His opinion is a helluva lot better than yours! Same with Dr. Crenshaw... a ton of others and don't ever forget it!

[@fernfreeman1729]

@@vernpascal1531 Buell was in tough, he had two detectives wanting to arrest and charge him with accessory to murdering the President. Had he looked closely he would have seen the total length of the package, he didn't.

[@DDEENY]

@@fernfreeman1729 Mr. Buell Frazier's sister Mrs. Linnie May Randle with whom Buell lived saw Oswald walking to their home on the morning of 11/22/1963 holding a bulky brown paper package from its top and the package hanging down until it almost touched the ground. She clearly testified to the Warren Commission that the package was "about 2 feet" long or "a little bit more". The minimum length of the disassembled Mannlicher-Carcano rifle was found by the WC to be 34.8 inches. Frazier also walked behind Oswald as they walked to the TSBD after parking the car 2 blocks away, and Frazier clearly stated that Oswald had the package tucked under his armpit and cupped in his hand, and in fact thus one couldn't tell that Oswald was carrying a package as it was concealed against his side.

[@fernfreeman1729]

@@DDEENY If you have a package of curtain rods, which would weigh perhaps 2 lbs, likely less, you wouldn't tuck it under your armpit, you'd just carry it like any 2-foot bag, in your hand. The stock of the gun would have been under his arm pit to conceal it better, then with his right hand down the barrel and just walk fast. Buell was way behind, like a football field back and really didn't see much nor would he be looking either. No curtain rods were found anywhere, just his gun. Buell's sister certainly wasn't going to contradict his brother, one lie and he was going to jail as accessory to murder.

[@DDEENY]

@@fernfreeman1729 Frazier's sister did see Oswald carrying the bag casually in his hand with the package hanging downward as he approached her home for his ride to the TSBD. Then Oswald removed the package from Frazier's car and carried the package tucked between his hand and armpit approaching the TSBD, as if he was trying to be discreet with it. The package is certainly suspicious but the WC found that the rifle's minimum disassembled length was 43.8 inches. Oswald's presence at the Paine residence in Irving with his family was atypical for a Wednesday, as he customarily caught the Frazier ride to Irving on Fridays to be with Oswald's family for the weekend. I'm unsure how the unlicensed Oswald without wheels otherwise commuted to the TSBD from his Oak Cliff rooming house from Mondays through Thursdays. Something was definitely up because Oswald had left his wedding ring in a cup at the Paine residence on 11/22/1963. I've been studying the JFK assassination for about the last 4 years and have read 20 books and counting. I'm currently reading the late Harold Weisburg's WHITEWASH book series which is a critique on the Warren Report. In the first book, Weisburg covers the WC's investigation re: Oswald's obtaining brown wrapping paper from the TSBD's shipping dept. and there is no evidence whatsoever supporting that and even the brown paper itself was compared with the TSBD's paper, and no match or association is evident. So where Oswald got the brown paper and constructed the package is unknown. True, the alleged curtain rods that were carried into the TSBD were never found but a brown sack alleged to have contained the rifle was found near the sniper's nest. I'd suppose that Oswald may indeed have intended to bring the alleged curtain rods back to Oak Cliff that evening which is why he didn't leave them in Frazier's car, so that would make sense. It's unknown if Oswald even brought the package up into the building because he was seen entering without a package. Perhaps he ditched the bag somewhere at the freight dock while entering the building. All useless speculation, of course, but it appears that Oswald could have had the rifle in the bag but only if the WC was wrong about the 43.8-inch dissembled rifle dimension. Oswald left the TSBD after the assassination en route to Oak Cliff first by a bus that he aborted and then by cab, without any package of curtain rods or anything else. My understanding is that the TSBD employees were dismissed for the day after the assassination and after a head count was done. Oswald's package (assuming that no rifle was contained in it) would certainly be a strange coincidence, but Oswald's leaving his wedding ring at the Paine residence on that fateful day stretches logic. Thank you.

[@matabeleman]

The legacy of kennedy is womanizer...

[@432b86ed]

OK, but how would that have anything to do with his ability to effectively and safely lead a country?

[@daphneduryea9136]

The womanizer rumors may have been smear campaigns.

[@ritawilliams8686]

@@daphneduryea9136 you wish?

[@daphneduryea9136]

@@ritawilliams8686 Look up his relationship with Lem Billings. That may be closer to the truth.

[@ritawilliams8686]

@@daphneduryea9136 So he got his sex from anything available. He did say he needed sex every day or he got a headache. I really have little if any respect for him. Thanks for adding to my education.

[@jonchaney]

My butt smells like fish.

[@ritawilliams8686]

75 % of the people 18 to 29 think he was one of the greatest presidents. Some one needs to introduce them to history . What about the people who lived through his short presidency thinks. And this guy who said be was inspired because Kennedy came to c his home town. Easy to influence. Guess you can tell he would be way at the bottom of my list . The assassion is what most people think of first about him.

[@oshawaxpress]

People of 18-29 have as much right to an opinion based on their perception as anybody else. including you. The people who lived thru his presidency were predominantly impressed by the potential he had to become a good/great President. It's neither their nor Kennedy's fault that he didn't live long enough to prove the expectation right or wrong. Dissing him after 1000 days in office makes no more sense than investing him with an assumed greatness that he had no time to realise. And I'm NOT a Democrat.

[@drs-Rigo-Reus]

75% are the folks who wan5 to believe in fairytales and live an easy and safe life.

[@Kayte-tv2cw]

Young people in the age group of 18 to 29 have a right to their opinions. And, for your information, President Kennedy had the highest approval rating while in office of any President, beginning with FDR. He is consistently ranked by Historians in the top 10 of all Presidents. Perhaps you should be introduced to history. While you are at it, learn some proper grammar and spelling.

[@ritawilliams8686]

@@oshawaxpress an opinion based on faIry tales

[@vernpascal1531]

@@ritawilliams8686 JFK was great and don't trust anyone who tells you Oswald Acted Alone...even if it comes with a PHD etc...

[@plezful]

This guy’s drunk

[@johntexas8417]

Shut up nutball